On June 15, 2022, FinCEN issued an advisory to alert financial institutions to the rising trend of elder financial exploitation (EFE). EFE involves the illegal or improper use of an older adult’s funds, property, or assets, and is often perpetrated either through theft or scams. The advisory highlights new EFE typologies and red flags since FinCEN issued its first advisory on the issue in 2011.
According to FinCEN’s release, financial institutions filed 72,000 SARs related to EFE in 2021, which represents an increase of 10,000 SARs over the previous year’s filings. In addition, CFPB;s estimate of the dollar value of suspicious transactions linked to EFE has similarly increased, from $2.6 billion in 2019 to $3.4 billion in 2020, the largest year-to-year increase since 2013.
In its advisory highlights, FinCEN provided behavioral and financial red flags to aid financial institutions with identifying, preventing, and reporting suspected EFE. FinCEN reminds financial institutions to perform additional due diligence where appropriate and remain alert to any suspicious activity that could indicate that their customers are perpetrators, facilitators, or victims of EFE.
FinCEN’s full press release can be found here.
FinCEN’s advisory on Elder Financial Exploitation can be found here.
In relation to elder financial exploitations, you may also read our articles on CFPB issuing guides for consumers on elder financial abuse and the CFPB’s “data spotlight” on suspicious activity reports on elder financial exploitation.
